Wesley Bryan Brings More Than Trick Shots to PGA TOUR
Trick shots garnered fame, funded the dream of Bryan Brothers
Wesley Bryan, a PGA Tour rookie in 2017, made a spectacular charge up the leaderboard at the RBC Heritage on Sunday. While it took just 14 starts on golf’s biggest stage for the South Carolina native to bring home the tartan jacket, most people still know him as “that trick shot guy”.
While his trick shots are incredible, he’s out to shatter that impression, one tournament at a time.
Bryan, now 27, and his older brother, George Bryan IV, are sons of PGA professional George Bryan III. A journeyman pro, the father instilled the love for the game early. Both Bryan boys would go on to have successful careers at the University of South Carolina.
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George was arguably the more successful collegiate golfer, a three-time All-American for the Gamecocks. Still, Wesley had plenty of game himself, earning two All-SEC awards during a very successful amateur career.
Both turned pro shortly after their careers in Columbia came to a close. Of course, as most of us know, the mini tours are a grind. A low paying grind.
With a little extra time on their hands while helping out at their father’s golf academy, the brothers got a buddy, a camera, and took to YouTube.
What started off as a fun way to kill some time would soon become the kick-starter to much bigger professional dreams. Sponsors like Callaway rolled in, the brothers appeared on Golf Channel’s “The Big Break” in 2015, and suddenly their “real” golf careers would take off.
Doors were opened, but nothing came easy for Bryan
Despite gaining internet stardom and opening several new doors, golf is still sport’s ultimate meritocracy. Nobody gets to the big show of the PGA TOUR without proving their game at several stops along the way, and that story has been no different for Wesley Bryan.
Bryan finally made his way through “Q School” last year to earn his spot on the Web.com Tour for 2016. Once there, Bryan made an almost immediate impact, finishing T-7 in his debut event in January. In his third start, Bryan won the Chitimacha Louisiana Open. A month later, he won in Mexico, and he would close out a hot summer run with an August win at the Digital Ally Open.
In addition to earning nearly half a million dollars in his rookie season, that third win was also a golden ticket. While most Web.com Tour players hope to earn enough money to qualify for the Web.Com Tour Finals – the primary path for graduation to the PGA TOUR – any player with three wins in one season qualifies for their Tour card. With just 10 other players accomplishing that feat, Bryan is now in rare company.
Wesley Bryan, the trick shot hero is now Wesley Bryan, PGA TOUR professional.
Wesley Bryan’s star is on the rise, breaking the preconceived image of the “Internet Star”
Bryan is the textbook definition of a golf lifer. Growing up immersed in the game, while there may have been a “plan B” along the way, this was always where he knew he belonged.
Now, Bryan is proving that every week as he plays with the game’s best.
It hasn’t all been roses, of course. Bryan began his new campaign by taking some knocks, with a T-41 finish at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in November his best finish of the fall. Four straight missed cuts opened the new year for Bryan, but it could have been the “welcome to the TOUR” phase Bryan needed.
A Saturday 63 at the Genesis Open propelled Bryan to his first top-five finish, and he backed it up with a matching fourth-place tie the next week at the Honda Classic. Bryan faced the Snake Pit at the Valspar Championship and came away with a third straight top ten.
Sure, hot streaks happen, even at the PGA TOUR level. That just makes Sunday’s breakthrough at Harbour Town that much more meaningful, as Bryan builds a game made to last at the highest level. Currently ranking 12th in scrambling and fourth in overall putting average, Bryan is making up for any weaknesses he has in a big way.
Next: Wesley Bryan Wins RBC Heritage
Wesley Bryan’s path to the PGA Tour may not have been conventional, with talent that wasn’t written in the stars from birth, but there’s no “trick” to his game anymore.